Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is far most the best playback device there is I had issues at first because it would freeze when I have my 2b WD (that's loaded with music and videos#, but I found the issue. If you have the same problems go to the settings and change the media notifications to when it will Check for the newest media added and there will not be anymore freezes or slow reading issues. I have about 1,200 gigs to about 1,400 gigs of music and movies usage of my 2 TB wd passport. Cons:{The WD TV live viewer Takes about 5 minutes to upload the software to the device you plug in to the WD TV device. This Device Also Lets you access all of your files music and videos from PC when the WD TV device is on # WD TV device has to be linked to Wi-Fi. There are apps for tablets and mobile devices for the touch screen remote fun but the con to that is that your device whether it being a android or apple device has to be on the same Wi-Fi to link with the device. I learned by trying different things myself and I have no issues with this. Best bang for your dollars. Note Apple and iTunes does not work well to none on this device. Also This device has a usb slot on the Front & back Has Ethernet Port Wi-Fi HDMI and AVI capabilities. Thanks For reading.

If your looking for primarily to play all your media formats in a very direct layout, add Netflix, YouTube, Pandora music, a few other common apps, access all your music and photos,, all in HD, over wireless network, then this is for you. It has no lag or buffer issues through from 1 room to another even playing HD size files at my house. I use both main drive and usb drive back at the PC that runs SERVIIO with no issues. Used ps3 before the cinavia add on ruined some playback, NO MORE PROBLEMS. Infrared remote is lacking volume and basic tv functions so I plan on getting a learning remote to take this one's place since I haven't found one that uses WD'S code. The only thing that kept me from giving it perfect was no support for Amazon Prime yet. In process of finding a way around that through another app on computer... Will update Does not replace PC that's hooked up to TV in other room but ease of use and layout from serviio to organize my media collection is great. NOTE... I did breakdown and try a roku3 first because of all the apps available but the video formats that it plays is inferior.. I cant remember what it doesn't play but it was either avi, mkv, mp4. If it had played all my formats from my downloaded collection I probably would have kept it.... But the WD LIVE plays them all.

Bought this unit primarily to watch downloaded movies. Setup was easy and I was able to add it to our network. However, the instructions were not clear on how to connect to various hard drives on our network, I was able to figure it out, but it took a while. The unit is also capable of streaming services, and it streams Netflix very well. It is small and light weight and I use the optical digital audio output to connect to our surround sound system. I am very pleased with the unit.

If you're looking for a way to stream videos, this is a great product! I originally purchased the item because I was growing tired of plugging my laptop into my TV in order to watch videos. I purchased the WDTV Live and paired it with a WD My Book Live External Hard Drive. They work extremely well together and have solved the problem of hard-wiring my computer to my TV. I chose the WDTVL because it offered a wider range of video formats compared to similar products such as Apple TV. The applications or "Services", as they are referred to on WDTVL, are another big plus. I no longer utilize my blu-ray player as a Netflix streaming device. The Netflix app is also organized very well compared to other devices. There is a Slingbox Player app as well, which is great if you are planning on streaming your home TV while you're away from home. There are tons of other apps that I have not had the chance to explore yet because I've been so busy with the Netflix and video streaming! !!!!!!!!!! My suggestion would be to not upgrade the firmware. There may be some enhancements that come with the upgrade, but I don't think they are worth the headache. Might want to wait until that gets sorted out. Here are some of the problems I experienced: - Randomly lost video signal when powering the unit on - Lost connection to the WD My Book Live - Frozen applications. I ended up returning the WDTVL and exchanging it for a new one. Aside from the issues I had because of the firmware update, the WDTVL is an awesome product. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys streaming video.

I have been using the WDTV products for a very very long time. I purchased the first WD multimedia device back in 2005 and I have owned one ever since. I will speak specifically to this device however since this is the one I am using currently. I purchased this because I have an extensive movie collection on an external hard drive. I hook up my HDD to the WDTV via USB and watch 1080p content on my TV. I have never come across a codec that this thing can't handle. I know that there are many similar devices out there but the WDTV can seriously play anything. When I am going through movies to download I never even look to see what the codec is or how big the file is because I have never had the WDTV fail to play everything seamlessly. Also there is the added benefit of all the streaming services built in, I am a big Netflix fan and I watch Netflix all the time with this device. It has BUILT IN WIRELESS!!!! Do you know how awesome it is to take this small box and hook up a power cable and HDMI out to my 42" TV in the bedroom and watch HD Netflix content without having to use some annoying USB dongle, it is great, seriously. I am not a fan of running Cat5/6 cables all over the apartment so I go wireless and when a device has it built in the smiles do not stop. This box does what it is supposed to, it does it well, and it is pretty simple to use. Not only can you do Netflix wireless but you can stream media from another media server in the house. So if I did not want to have my HDD with the movie collection in my bedroom directly connected I could instead hook it up to my PC and share the drive on the network. This is a little more complicated to set up but it works none the less. For the money this little guy packs a punch. It is silent, makes zero noise, gets a little warm to the touch after extended use but nothing abnormal there. I have had many of the WD series of devices and they really are amazing. I tried to go the cheap route one time and got a different product from another manufacturer (whom I love dearly) ASUS. I was furious with their media player and immediately bought another WDTV device instead (ASUS collects dust). If you don't have a huge collection of media and you only use streaming services like HULU and NETFLIX then there are a lot of other products that will work for you. But if you are anything like me and one day you come across a cool movie that is in some "obscure" format and you can't watch it, then you will kick yourself and wish you had purchased this product instead. (P.S.) It is a really small device, so you can pick up the WDTV box, a USB thumb drive with some movies, and then head to a friends house and bring the party to their place! (P.P.S) This does not have any internal storage capacity so you will need an external hard drive, jump drive, or network sharing to view media you own. The WDTV Live Hub has a 1TB built in HDD but that is a completely different story :-)

Excellent media player for just about ever need. Plays every format of media I use and some I have never hear of. Two USB ports make it versatile for mem stiks and HD's. Interface is nice and easy to use. Small size takes up very little room. Nice interface with options. Good price. Full size remote with full set of buttons, unlike Apple TV. HDMI and Stereo audio out (switchable) allows usage with audio systems other than HDMI TV system.

Overall I am pretty happy with my WDTV Live. I wanted this box so that I could view video content from my computer on my living room television. I chose this box over the ROKU versions and Apple TV because of the wide array of file types that are compatible with this box. That has been a really great feature. So far I have not had trouble with any file type. The only downside to this box is that it does freeze occasionally. When this happens, the only fix I have found is to unplug the box. There is a power key on the remote but no physical power button on the box. This is really the only downside that I have found other than that some of the applications can be a little slow, such as Hulu Plus. The box was very easy to set up and for the price and the features, I am happy with this purchase.

I replaced my media PC with this device after getting tired of all the security patches to my Windows 7 Media Center PC. It's quiet, small, can be connected to external media via 2 USB ports. It streams my audio collection (in FLAC and some .mp3) and my movie collection (.mkv files). No problems with playback on anything I have tried yet. The optical audio works well and surround sound is nice on this (getting that working correctly on my media PC was always problematic).

The WD Live is a good box for those interested in ease-of-use and first-timers. That being said, it lacks the features of more robust boxes. The interface is great and is easy to use but the settings are not as intuitive as you might think. To be fair though, it does a very good job once it is setup. If you set this up with a locally-attached USB drive, you'll be in heaven. It will work "Auto-magically!" However, if you have a NAS device, it can be a bit more complicated. I suggest you bypass the Media server menu completely and use Windows Shares. Doing that will allow you to add the content to the box and have it pull down the information from the internet. I don't like the fact that I can only choose one media source (TVDB) and cannot use IMDB or another source. But that's what you get for ease of use, less choices to confuse.

Love this device. Got one for my house. Loaded all of my family home movies and pictures on a 2TB WD USB hard drive and connected it to the WD TV Live device and boom, my wife can view them all day long - no problems!!! No need to even browse the internal network or have my desktop PC running. I like it so much I bought a second one for my in-laws..

Was looking into Home Theater Pc's and the more I researched the more I realized I didn't want anything big and loud in my rooms. Came across this little bugger thought I'd give it a go. Installation was super easy. Connect cables and power it up. Box is a little slow at times navigating around the main menu and stuff but not too bad. Thought it was nice to be able to plug my external hard drive into it so I didn't have to have my laptop on always. Plays great from there but when trying to add anything else onto it, it transfers soooo slow. Like 3mb/s slow. I just decided to leave it attached to my desktop which is a hunk of junk but the WD TV Live picks it up from there and still plays nicely. I'll be picking up another one for my Rec. Room!

biggest problems ,1 slow to respond to the remote. it locks up at times. 2 not every show is available. check the offerings from the providers carefully. i thought i did and found out i was wrong. the good. 1 set up was a breeze. plug it in and type in the passwords to you services. start watching shows. 2 lots of ways to get shows to watch. you can kill hours just looking at things to watch from all of the providers. 3 it will hook up to your home network and play items from a network drive or computer. great for me to review photos from a photo shoot ( i'm a photographer) 4 i can hook up my camera on live view and let the model see how she looks to the camera.

All in all, a marvelous device which probably is making some Smart TVs a little envious. This device will make your "dumb" TV into more of a "smart" TV than a Smart TV. I have lots of videos on my home NAS device. The WD TV Live Media Player easily handles .mkv, .mp4, .m4v, .wmv formats. That is important because it means I don't have to transcode my video sources to a single format. The WD TV Live has wireless networking built in. It works well for me using 802.11n from my home network. I originally connected using a Powerline adapter, but when I switched to the internal wireless capability, I didn't notice any degradation in image quality or performance. ( I have a pretty good router and a clear path from the router to the WD TV Live, so your mileage may vary. ) If you don't want to stream from your network -- or you don't have network attached storage -- connect a portable hard drive or a flash drive containing media to one of the USB ports and you'll love it. Music, video, photos - the WD TV Live responds elegantly. Several Internet Media sources come preloaded, such as Netflix, Pandora, Huluplus, YouTube, etc. I don't use them all, but have found Netflix, Launchpad, and YouTube work just fine. The user interface for the device is pleasant enough and easy to use. It does take a bit of getting used to -- things are organized differently than previous versions of WD set top box devices. The learning curve is not steep at all and the process of acclimating to the new interface went swiftly for me. I have a Logitech Harmony remote which controls my home theater, but I find myself using the WD remote that came with this unit from time to time. Iit is not too small, not too big, rationally laid out, and works quite well. Connecting to my AV receiver was a breeze. I ran an HDMI cable from the WD TV Live to the receiver and that was it. The WD TV Live provides 5.1 audio goodness to my receiver. The audio quality is, to my ears, first rate.

All I wanted to do was to continually loop a 45 minute video in the lobby of our business. Sounds easy right? Well the WD TV Live is the only one that would. Easy firmware upgrade, before the upgrades was getting 3 days of playback before it stopped. After the firmware upgrade it has been over a month with no pause in the action. Simply turn on the TV in the morning and let it run. The best part is it also has the Slingbox player at no additional cost. For those who have one, great way to add everything to that TV in the house that never gets watched. I also use it to stream movies from my home server. Oh and it has WiFi built in config on screen and go. I am still finding cool things to use it for. Roku don't waist time or money! Beside you have to give them a credit card to get a firmware upgrade or apps that are free...... Why do they need a credit card #?

Getting the device connected to the wireless was fairly simple, though navigating the characters type in the WiFi password as a little tedious. It is having trouble finding my network shares on my windows network. I've not tried it on my Linux HTPC. Streaming from Pandora and Netflix was fairly straight forward. $89 one time payment for the device to replace $104 for satellite. Good deal in my book.

I used a Sony BDP-S590 blu ray player for a year to access photo/video files from my NAS drive and also to watch Netflix. It was a piece of junk ... 1) the interface was terrible, 2) it would not read many of the common video file formats (forcing me to convert various videos into MP4 and losing quality in the process), and 3) some of the Sony Blu ray players will not even read photo files that are over 4 MB. The WD media player is a good product with an excellent interface and is easy to set up. I have just three issues (which is why I have given it 3 stars). First, I am feeding the signal to my new Panasonic TV via a 35 foot HDMI cable (Monster High Def cable - high quality). I find that the media player's signal is weakish so sometimes I need to turn the TV off and then back on before it will read the signal. I am an engineer and after extensive testing, I am convinced it is a problem with the media player's design. Second, the media player tends to freeze maybe once every 2 weeks or so and I have to unplug it and reboot it from scratch. These are the reasons I have given it 3 stars. Note that I bought three of these units for three separate areas of my house, and the two problems are happening separately with two of the three players. The third one is not being used very much so I don't know how specific these problems are to those units. Ah yes, one other issue. Access to netflix is much slower than with my Sony blu-ray player ... they need to speed up the processor.

I really only purchased this thing for one reason - to use the pre-installed Slingplayer app. I already had an Apple TV, but unfortunately that does not have the Slingplayer software I was looking for. I wanted to stream from my Slingbox downstairs to the TV in my bedroom upstairs. This would have allowed me to watch cable TV in my bedroom without getting another cable box. I gave this thing about a week before I was so annoyed with it that I had to return it. Yes, the Slingplayer app worked, but here are the issues that drove me crazy: 1. About 1/3 of the time I could not get it properly booted up. I would wait patiently for up to 10-15 min, only to stare at a blank screen. After unplugging the device and retrying a few times, I could usually get it to boot up to the home screen. And about half the time that I actually was able to boot it up, the screen would be rendered in an ugly all-Purplish hue (clearly something wrong with the color accuracy and video output). I tested the same HDMI cable on other devices (like my XBox 360) to ensure that the cable was not the problem. The only issues I had were with this WD TV. 2. Another 1/3 of the time I could not get this thing connected to my network. I tried both wifi and ethernet with the same results. I am pretty tech savvy and have a great LAN setup in my house with 2 access points. All of my devices (computers, iPhones, iPads, XBox 360, etc.) connect to my network (via wifi or ethernet) no problem. But the WD TV inconsistently was able to to connect. 3. The user interface is about as drab and uninspiring as it gets. It's functional... just not pretty. 4. The WD TV seemed pretty laggy and slow to respond to my commands... just annoying. 5. The remote is terrible - squishy buttons make it difficult to tell if you're pressing the buttons hard enough. I tried using the iPhone remote app (which you can download from the app store), but that doesn't fare any better - it's a very clunky app. I used the Slingplayer app, watched a few Youtube videos, as well as a few Netflix movies. I didn't use it for anything else, such as streaming media content from computers or network drives. So I can't comment on all of it's advertised functionality. I can only say that this thing is unreliable, slow, and just plain not fun to use. The Apple TV is a thousand times better than the WD TV, especially if you have Macs and iOS devices in your home. I'll just have to wait until Slinbox makes a Slingplayer app for the Apple TV or XBox 360 :-(

Long story short, I have a LG 3D TV and it has DLNA for streaming and it works pretty well however the lack of DTS processing its a big con, also has PLEX but that requires a server, a computer running in the back, so for big files its pretty slow. So I've been researching many types of media players and so far this is the best out of the box for this price. Really easy to setup and and I connect it directly to my router that is next to it, but I read that wi-fi is also really good but however the wireless N function of this device is 2.4ghz only. Browsing the files and playing them its really smooth. It plays any kind of codec (video&audio) everything!! However it has some cons; *The metadata information only downloads for files that are directly attached to the device through USB not over the network (DLNA) *Unable to rate or add favorites for your files or folders over the network, only on directly attached storage.(DLNA) *Unable to play external subs through DLNA. *Unable to customize with external themes like older versions. I have a Seagate Goflex home, so I don't know if my setup is wrong or just doesn't work. It doesn't detect it as windows share, and either my Mac. I also haven't tried to attach directly an external HD, but also read that it has better features. So far Im happy with it, I just would like to have at least the external subs through DLNA on regular files and 3D like my TV.

I used to watch my movies by plugging an external HD into back of my TV USB port. Many times audio didn't match video. Upgraded to WD My Cloud but TV only saw about 20 of my 100+ digital movies. With the WD TV Live I can now watch all of my movies and they play perfectly. Couldn't be happier with it.

Great media streaming device. Has 2 usb ports (one font one back) which can play a variety of different formats of media. This product/feature comes in great for me when traveling to have access to my favorite TV / Movies / Music or connect to Wi-Fi and use various other media apps.